NICVD Karachi discharges Balochistan boy after bullet removed from heart

KARACHI: The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, has discharged a 12-year-old boy from Khuzdar, Balochistan, after its paediatric cardiac team successfully performed complex emergency surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his heart.

The child sustained an accidental gunshot injury in Khuzdar and was initially taken to local hospitals for treatment. Given the critical nature of his condition and the complexity of the cardiac injury, he was subsequently shifted to Karachi for specialised care.

After being taken to different hospitals in Karachi, the boy was eventually brought to the Paediatric Emergency Department of NICVD Karachi in an extremely critical condition.

Following an urgent assessment, the NICVD team proceeded with emergency cardiac surgery to remove the bullet.

The approximately two-hour-long procedure was performed by a multidisciplinary team led by Prof. Sohail Khan Bangash, Head of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, NICVD, along with Dr. Saad Badar, Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon.

Dr. Abdul Sattar, Paediatric Interventionist, and Prof. Amin Khuwaja, Anaesthetist, also played important roles in the procedure, alongside other members of the multidisciplinary medical team.

The complexity of the case required coordinated paediatric cardiac, interventional and anaesthesia expertise to manage the critically injured child and safely remove the foreign object from his heart.

Prof. Sohail Khan Bangash said the child arrived at NICVD in an extremely critical condition with the bullet lodged in his heart, requiring an immediate and highly coordinated medical response.

“After urgent assessment, we proceeded with emergency surgery, and the bullet was successfully removed,” he said.

According to Prof. Bangash, the child responded well to treatment, recovered satisfactorily and was subsequently discharged from the hospital.

The successful outcome followed emergency management of a highly unusual and potentially life-threatening cardiac injury in a child.

Prof. Tahir Saghir, Executive Director, NICVD, appreciating the efforts of the medical, surgical, nursing and support teams involved in the child's treatment said, NICVD remains committed to providing advanced and specialised cardiac care to patients from Sindh and other parts of Pakistan.

Prof. Saghir added that, with the continued support of the Government of Sindh, NICVD has developed specialised expertise and state-of-the-art facilities to manage critical and complex cardiac cases.

The child's recovery and discharge mark another case managed through NICVD's specialised paediatric cardiac services.

The case also highlights the role of specialised cardiac centres in providing advanced treatment for critically ill patients referred from outside Karachi, particularly when complex cardiac surgery and multidisciplinary expertise are required.

For the 12-year-old boy from Khuzdar, the emergency intervention ultimately enabled him to recover sufficiently to leave the hospital after treatment for a bullet lodged in his heart.

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